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Speed Recorder for Cars and Vessels.

No. 21,992. Patented Novu2, 1858.

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Speed Recorder for Cars and Vessels. No. 21.992; Patented Nov. 2, 1858.

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OF POTTSTO {N, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPEED INDICATOR AND RECORDER FOR RAILEICAD-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 21,992, dated November 2, 1858.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, J. DUTTON STEELE. and lViLLIAM LORENZ, both of Pottstown, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Machine for Indicating the Speed of Railway-Trains; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which Figure 1, represents our indicator as attached to a railway train.

The principle of our improvement consists in attaching to a main shaft, caused to revolve by the motion of the car two revolving shafts, one carrying a governor and pencil, and the other carrying or revolving a cylinder or continuous sheet of paper with different distances marked upon it by a series of parallel lines, indicating distance traveled.

Thus, in the accompanying Fig. 1, A, represents the main shaft of the indicator, which is connected by a pulley P, and an endless chain to the axle of any of the cars in a train. On this shaft is a bevel cogwheel, a, gearing into another corresponding bevel cog-wheel, Z). This wheel Z) revolves upon the vertical shaft D. To this vertical shaft, D, a centrifugal governor, E, is attached, consisting of the two arms, G, G, and G, G, pivoted at E. At G and G are two arms H and H hin 'ed and extending to near the center of the collar J where they are hinged as at H", H.

J is a weighted collar or disk, sliding freely upon the upper part of the shaft D, D. A spiral spring is placed at M, fixed at its upper extremity, and playing down and up on the shaft, D, D. Its object is, by the collar 0, and the rods, N, N, to collapse the governor arms, G, G, and G, G. The disk J is to be made of such weight as to counterbalance the weight of the balls G, and G in every position.

To the weighted sliding disk, J, is attached a pencil, by means of a horizontal rod F. The shaft D, D, turns freely, with out carrying the disk and pencil around, and this disk J slides up and down freely, carrying the arm F, and the pencil up and down according as the arms G, G, and G, G, are extended or collapsed. The outer end of this rod, which carries the pencil, slides between two fixed vertical guides, L, L; and, if necessary, a rod F, may be extended from the disk J, diametrically opposite to F, and this w ll have two corresponding vertical guides, L, L. The object of these guides is to prevent all tendency of the pencil to move around with the shaft D, D, and to limit its motion only to a vertical line parallel to L, L.

On one extremity of the main shaft 31, a small endless screw, 12, gearing into the cogwheel 0, is placed. J is a small shaft supporting the cog-wheel c at its lower extremity, and having a second screw wheel a on its upper extremity, gearing into a cogwheel c, in the second shaft J. This second shaft, J, carries also a third endless screw, or, which gears into a cog-wheel 0", on the vertical shaft J, J This series of screw wheels, n, a, n, and cog-wheels 0, c, c, are used for the purpose of reducing the motion derived by the main shaft A from one of the revolving axles of the train. To the shaft J, J, is attached a wooden cylinder or drum, B, B, and aroundthis drum is attached a sheet of paper graduated a series of vertical lines marked thereon. Each of these vertical lines corresponds with one mile of distance run, so that one line revolves by the point of the pencil in F for every mile traveled over by the train. Now if the train pass over that mile at a minimum and uniform rate of speed then the arms G, G, G, G, are not expanded, the pencil in F remains at or near to the highest point, and a line is marked from the first to the second vertical line on the paper, almost parallel to the base of the drum, and near to the upper line. If the train were traveling a mile at a maximum and uniform velocity, then the pencil would mark a horizontal line parallel to the plane of the base of the drum, and also near to the lower edge of the drum, because the governor levers, G, G, and G, G, would then be extended to their utmost, and kept uniformly extended, thus keeping the pencil on the rod F down to its lowest point.

If the speed of the train underwent variation during the mile, then the pencil would slide down and up, according the speed was greater or less, and an irregular line, such as shown in the drawing, would be the result. The line being always parallel to the base of the drum for uniform speed, and descending for increased speed, and ascending for dec eased speed, and for stop pages ascending to the highest line on the drum. F or a backward movement of the train, a corresponding backward line Would be shown on the diagram. By thus drawing a number of vertical and parallel lines to indicate the distances along the line of the road, and a series of transverse parallel lines corresponding to different Velocities, the resultant line as drawn by the pencil Will furnish an accurate history of the forward and retrograde movements of a train, the maximum and minimum velocity, the duration of each of these velocities, and the num ber of stoppages made. We have found in practice such to be the result attained, and With surprising accuracy.

Having thus described our improvement We do not desire to claim the invention of speed indicators at large, as machines have been used for that purpose before, but

"What We do claim and desire to secure as our invention, is'

The governor shaft and indicator; and the shaft carrying the prepared paper, in combination With the main driver, arranged and operating as above described.

J. DUTTON STEELE. W. LORENZ.

Vitnesses NATHL. P. HOBART, J11, G120. RICE. 

